Our sector expertise
Pharmacy & Health Chartered Accountant
Accounting firm specializing in pharmacy, parapharmacy and healthcare professionals. Pharmacy management, VAT on medicines, ROSP, retrocessions. Hayot Expertise.
Loading…
Reviewed by
Samuel Hayot
Chartered accountant & statutory auditor
Registered with OEC Paris IDF · CRCC Paris
Our expertise at a glance
A pharmacy accountant masters multi-rate VAT (2.1%, 5.5%, 10%, 20%), CPAM third-party-payer flows, the smoothed decreasing margin and dispensing fees, SELARL or SPFPL structuring and pharmacy acquisitions. Budget from €450 excluding VAT per month, with a firm quote within 24 to 48 working hours. The goal: an officine margin steered monthly and a tax framework fit for creation, operations and sale.
Our added value
- Command of the 4 pharmacy VAT rates (2.1%, 5.5%, 10%, 20%) and third-party payer flows with the CPAM.
- The right tax framework from the first entry: a French officine is taxed under BIC rules, not BNC (BOI-BIC-CHAMP-60-30).
- Support across the full cycle: creation or acquisition, operations, sale or transfer.
Who is this for?
- Pharmacy owners running an independent or multi-site officine.
- Assistant pharmacists preparing a first setup or a pharmacy acquisition.
When to contact us
- Before an acquisition, a sale or a move to a SELARL.
- When third-party payer flows, multi-rate VAT or stock rotation become hard to manage.
What you get
- An accounting and tax framework adapted to pharmacy specifics.
- Monthly reporting with pharmacy KPIs: officine margin, stock rotation, reimbursement rate.
Sole name, SELARL or SELAS: what changes for a pharmacy owner
| Criterion | Sole name | SELARL | SELAS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taxation of profit | Personal income tax, BIC category, on the whole profit | Corporate income tax: 15% up to €42,500, then 25% | Corporate income tax: 15% up to €42,500, then 25% |
| Taxed in your own name | The entire profit, drawn or not | Only the salary actually drawn | Only the salary actually drawn |
| Director's social status | Self-employed, CAVP | Majority manager: self-employed, CAVP | President: treated as an employee, general scheme plus CAVP |
| Dividends | Not applicable | Flat tax at 31.4%, with social contributions on the share above 10% of capital, share premiums and current account | Flat tax at 31.4%, with no social contributions on dividends |
| Acquisition and transfer | Limited leverage, repayment out of after-tax income | Works with an SPFPL: debt repaid by dividends flowing up | Works with an SPFPL, gradual entry of partners made easier |
Illustrative case
Illustrative case: an assistant pharmacist buying out the owner
Situation and set-up
A neighbourhood officine whose owner is retiring, bought with bank financing: real margin by family to audit beyond the headline turnover, VAT allocation to secure, and a choice between buying the business and buying the shares.
Modelled results
The buyer signs knowing their real margin and repayment capacity, with a cash plan including the loan and CAVP calls. Amounts depend entirely on each officine and are quantified file by file.
Quick answer: what does a pharmacy accountant do?#
A pharmacy accountant keeps the officine's books, secures multi-rate VAT (2.1%, 10%, 20%), tracks the smoothed decreasing margin and dispensing fees, structures the operating entity (SELARL, SPFPL) and secures both the acquisition and the transfer. It turns complex till data into management decisions and controlled cash flow. Budget from €450 excluding VAT per month for a French pharmacy, with a firm quote within 24 to 48 working hours.
How much does an accountant cost for a pharmacy?#
For a French officine, budget from €450 excluding VAT per month. That covers bookkeeping, the allocation of multi-rate VAT, third-party-payment reconciliation, the account review, the annual accounts and the tax return. Payroll for technicians and assistant pharmacists, and one-off engagements (acquisition audit, valuation, setting up a SELARL or an SPFPL), are quoted separately.
Three things genuinely move that budget:
| What moves the fee | What we look at to quote |
|---|---|
| Volume and structure of turnover | Number of flows to process, complexity of the rate-by-rate allocation at the till, weight of third-party payment to reconcile (CPAM and complementary insurers) |
| Payroll and headcount | Number of technicians, assistant pharmacists and apprentices, duty and on-call hours, application of the community-pharmacy collective agreement |
| One-off engagements | Acquisition audit, valuation of the officine, incorporation or conversion of the structure, transfer |
The firm's entry-level package across all activities starts at €258 excluding VAT per month. A pharmacy sits above that, deliberately: multi-rate allocation, third-party-payment reconciliation and stock monitoring are real monthly work, not one more line on a flat fee. Our full price list is on the pricing page, and we quote your file on your actual volumes rather than on a sector average.
Why a pharmacy is not run like an ordinary shop#
A community pharmacy combines two logics that few businesses share: a public-health mission framed by the Public Health Code, and a commercial operation whose margin is largely administered. The owner-pharmacist (titulaire) is at once a healthcare professional, an employer, a stock manager and a business owner, usually in debt from buying the business. On top of this comes the constant handling of third-party payment, which delays the collection of a large share of turnover.
A pharmacy's remuneration is no longer just a percentage applied to the price of medicines. It combines several building blocks that an accountant must isolate to read your real profitability:
- the smoothed decreasing margin (MDL) on reimbursable medicines, which mechanically reduces the margin on the most expensive boxes;
- dispensing fees paid by the health insurance fund (Assurance maladie), a component of remuneration that is separate from the commercial margin, tied to the act of dispensing and to the prescription;
- the ROSP (remuneration based on public-health objectives), linked in particular to the generic substitution rate;
- the free margin on parapharmacy, over-the-counter products (OTC) and medical devices.
Add to this the new missions (vaccination, rapid tests, pharmaceutical interviews, teleconsultation) and the growing weight of buying groups. The direct consequence: two pharmacies with the same turnover can generate very different profitability, depending on their product mix and their generics policy.
Our reading. The real issue for a pharmacy is not turnover, it is the margin by product family and the sales mix. Turnover growth driven by expensive medicines with a smoothed margin can erode the result. We look at the margin structure first, and volume second.
Which accounting, tax and social constraints weigh on a pharmacy?#
A pharmacy is taxed under BIC rules, not BNC#
This is the most common confusion, and it has very concrete consequences. The owner-pharmacist is a healthcare professional registered with the Ordre, but running an officine is a commercial activity: French tax guidance is explicit that profits made by pharmacists from operating their officine are taxable as industrial and commercial profits (BIC). You therefore do not fall under the BNC regime or the 2035 return, unlike a doctor or a dentist.
What follows from that: accrual accounting rather than cash accounting, a duty to take stock and value it, depreciation of goodwill and equipment under commercial rules, and a BIC income statement. A firm that treats your officine as an ordinary liberal profession has the wrong framework from the very first entry.
Multi-rate VAT settled at the till#
In a pharmacy, VAT is allocated product by product, at the moment of sale. A parameterisation error in the pharmacy management software (LGO) spreads across the whole year and weakens every VAT return.
| Product family | VAT rate |
|---|---|
| Reimbursable medicines (specialties, reimbursable magistral preparations) | 2.1% |
| Non-reimbursable medicines | 10% |
| Assistive devices and equipment for disabled people listed on the LPP (specifically listed headings only) | 5.5% |
| Parapharmacy, cosmetics, hygiene products | 20% |
The shortcut that costs money. You often read that "medical devices listed on the LPP are taxed at 5.5%". As stated, that is wrong. The reduced rate of article 278-0 bis of the French Tax Code covers assistive devices and equipment designed for disabled people listed under specifically enumerated headings of the list of reimbursable products and services: chapters 1 and 3 to 7 of title II, title III and title IV. A medical device sold over the counter that falls under none of these headings is taxed at the standard rate. The rule has to be checked heading by heading when parameterising the pharmacy management software: one misclassified line propagates across twelve months of VAT returns.
Our role: secure the allocation of turnover by rate from the till Z-reports, reconcile third-party payment flows (CPAM and complementary insurers), track rejections and unpaid invoices, and document that allocation so it holds up in a tax audit.
Which accounts does a pharmacy use?#
There is no statutory chart of accounts specific to pharmacies: a French officine applies the general chart of accounts (PCG). The real question is therefore not "which account is the pharmacy account?", but how to break down the PCG accounts so that multi-rate VAT, third-party payment and stock stay readable all year. This is the backbone we put in place:
| Pharmacy item | PCG account | Useful breakdown |
|---|---|---|
| Purchases of goods | 607 | One breakdown per family: reimbursable, OTC, parapharmacy, medical devices |
| Discounts and rebates obtained | 609 | Ring-fence generic discounts, now capped, so they can be tracked as such |
| Sales of goods | 707 | One breakdown per VAT rate, aligned with the software's allocation |
| Dispensing fees and ROSP | 706 or a breakdown of 707 | Separate accounts: this is not commercial margin, and payment is delayed |
| Output VAT | 44571 | One breakdown per rate (2.1%, 5.5%, 10%, 20%) |
| Trade receivables | 411 | Counter sales, mandatory share (CPAM) and complementary share (insurers), tracked separately |
| Stock of goods | 37 and 6031 | Valued inventory, expired products and shrinkage identified |
| Goodwill and lease rights | 207 and 206 | Basis for depreciation and for the future capital gain on sale |
| Acquisition loan | 164 | Repayment schedule monitored against actual repayment capacity |
The critical point is not the account number: it is that the pharmacy management software and the chart of accounts say exactly the same thing. When the two diverge, the reported margin is wrong and so is the VAT.
What is a pharmacy's balance sheet?#
A pharmacy's balance sheet is a retailer's balance sheet, but with four items that weigh far more than elsewhere and that have to be read together:
- stock, the largest current asset and often the largest pool of dormant cash;
- goodwill and lease rights, carried at acquisition cost, which hold most of the value and drive the capital gain on resale;
- the acquisition loan on the liabilities side, whose schedule must be set against real EBITDA rather than turnover;
- third-party-payment receivables, revenue already earned but not yet collected, with rejections to reprocess.
Reading a pharmacy's balance sheet therefore answers one simple question: does what you have tied up in stock and goodwill leave you enough cash to service the debt and pay yourself? The profit and loss account alone does not tell you.
Margin, generics and dispensing fees#
The officine margin is largely administered on the reimbursable side, but it remains steerable where you have real levers: generics, OTC and parapharmacy. We provision and track the ROSP with you, because its delayed payment often masks the real cash position of the month.
The smoothed decreasing margin explains most profitability surprises. It falls as the manufacturer's price rises, and the decree of 12 November 2018 set the margin at 0% on the band above €1,930 of manufacturer price excluding tax (PFHT), with effect from 1 January 2020. In other words: above that threshold a box earns nothing beyond its dispensing fee. A pharmacy dispensing many expensive treatments can therefore post sharply rising turnover with a flat or even falling margin.
Dispensing fees are the other half of the equation. They are unit amounts paid by the health insurance fund, independent of the price of the medicine:
| Dispensing fee | Amount (mainland France) | Trigger |
|---|---|---|
| Fee per reimbursable medicine (HDR) | €0.60 excl. VAT | Each reimbursable medicine dispensed |
| Age-related fee (HDA) | €1.65 excl. VAT | Prescription for a patient under 3 or over 70 |
| Specific-medicine fee (HDE) | €3.50 excl. VAT | Medicines subject to special dispensing rules |
| Complex-prescription fee (HC) | €0.30 excl. VAT | Complex prescription, as defined by the pharmacy convention |
These fees carry VAT at 2.1%, like the reimbursable medicines they attach to, and the French overseas departments and regions apply uplift coefficients. Their weight in total remuneration is now such that a dashboard which does not isolate them says nothing useful about real profitability.
The underestimated risk. Since 1 January 2026, discounts on generic medicines are capped at 40% of the manufacturer's price excluding tax (PFHT), and at 20% on biosimilars: the 2026 Social Security Financing Act wrote these caps back into statute, which makes them far more stable than a ministerial decree. Many pharmacy cash plans assumed higher discounts. We realign purchase and margin forecasts on this cap to avoid a painful correction at year-end.
The operating structure: SELARL, SPFPL and taxation#
Company law applied to pharmacy is strictly regulated, and the capital remains reserved essentially for practising pharmacists. Two forms structure the vast majority of cases:
- the SELARL (or SELAS), a liberal-profession company subject to corporate income tax: it separates the assets and moves the result to corporate tax, at the reduced rate of 15% up to €42,500 of profit, then 25% above. You are then personally taxed only on the salary actually drawn, which frees cash to repay the acquisition debt;
- the SPFPL (a liberal-profession financial holding company), the pharmacy holding: it serves the leverage effect on the buyout, the gradual entry of a younger partner, and the preparation of the transfer. Dividends flowing up from the SELARL to the SPFPL benefit, under conditions, from the parent-subsidiary regime (near-exemption, apart from a share of costs and expenses).
Dividends paid to the director remain subject to the flat tax (PFU at 31.4% in 2026, i.e. 12.8% income tax and 18.6% social levies after the 2026 Social Security Financing Act). The trade-off between salary and dividends, and between the status of majority manager of a SELARL (self-employed, contributing to the CAVP) and president of a SELAS (treated as an employee), is calculated case by case according to your net income, retirement and loan-repayment objectives. This is the purpose of our dedicated director's remuneration review.
Social: collective agreement and CAVP#
The officine employs technicians, assistant pharmacists and sometimes apprentices under the national collective agreement for community pharmacy (IDCC 1996, brochure 3052): coefficients and pay grid, seniority bonus, duty and on-call, managerial status for assistant pharmacists. It is a precise agreement and an expensive one to get wrong, because coefficient adjustments are calculated retroactively.
The CAVP (the pharmacists' pension fund) covers the owner's basic and supplementary retirement, with a supplementary scheme partly funded by capitalisation that is specific to the profession: its calls are substantial and must be provisioned in the cash plan, especially in the first year of setting up, when they fall due exactly as the acquisition loan starts running.
Which decisions at each stage of your officine?#
Setting up: buying the pharmacy#
Acquisition almost always goes through a dedicated operating structure (SELARL) that buys the business assets or the shares, financed by a professional loan repaid from operating cash flow. Valuation is usually expressed as a percentage of turnover including tax (TTC) or a multiple of restated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBE).
In practice, before signing, we secure four points: the quality of the real margin beyond the headline turnover, the level and valuation of the stock, the debt-servicing capacity, and the choice of structure (buying the business or the shares, with or without an SPFPL). We also frame the incorporation of the company through our company formation service.
Growth: partnership and a second outlet#
Once you are set up, decisions change in nature: bringing an assistant into the capital, buying out minority shares, financing an extension or a dispensing robot, developing a parapharmacy section. Each project is judged on its effect on margin and on the cash available after debt service, not only on the additional turnover.
The sale#
The exit is prepared several years ahead: smoothing the result, choosing between selling the business and selling the shares, interposing an SPFPL, and timing transfer duties and capital gains. A well-supported valuation is the centrepiece of the negotiation, which we produce through our business valuation service.
Quick decision table#
| Your situation | Priority | Reflex to activate |
|---|---|---|
| First setup as an owner | Secure real margin and cash | Acquisition audit, cash plan, CAVP provision |
| High profit taxed personally under the actual regime | Reduce personal taxation of the result | Study a move to a SELARL under corporate tax |
| Plan to bring in a partner or buy out shares | Leverage and transfer | Study an SPFPL (holding) |
| Profitability declining at stable turnover | Rebuild the margin | Margin-by-family and mix analysis |
| Retirement in 3 to 5 years | Prepare the sale | Valuation and business/shares trade-off |
How to steer a pharmacy? Key indicators#
A pharmacy's durability rests on regular steering, not on the annual accounts alone. Month by month, we track with you:
- the overall gross margin rate and, above all, the margin by family (reimbursable, OTC, parapharmacy);
- the generic substitution rate (ROSG), decisive for the ROSP;
- stock rotation, to avoid tying up cash in the reserve;
- the weight of unsettled third-party payment and rejections from CPAM and insurers;
- the average basket and footfall, to steer OTC and parapharmacy.
The most frequent mistakes in a pharmacy#
In a pharmacy takeover, the friction points are almost always the same:
- approximate VAT allocation from a poorly parameterised LGO, which distorts the margin and exposes you to audits;
- CAVP contributions not provisioned, which hit cash flow from the first year;
- a generics policy decided without measuring the effect of the discount cap on the margin;
- an unsuitable legal structure (staying in personal name when the result would justify corporate tax, no holding for a transfer project);
- poorly controlled stock (expired products, shrinkage, overstocking) that freezes available cash.
Our services for pharmacists#
We support owner-pharmacists, assistants in the process of setting up, and their holdings across the whole life cycle of the officine: bookkeeping and account review, multi-rate VAT, annual accounts and tax return, remuneration trade-offs, SELARL and SPFPL structuring, valuation and transfer. Pharmacists share many issues with other health-sector liberal professions, while keeping the specificities proper to the officine.
Representative case example#
An assistant pharmacist wants to buy the officine where they practise, whose owner is retiring. The file brings together the classic difficulties: multi-rate VAT to secure, bank financing to structure, and the choice between buying the business and buying the shares.
Our typical intervention is to: audit the real margin by family beyond the headline turnover, build a cash plan including loan repayment and CAVP calls, study the case for a SELARL under corporate tax and an SPFPL for the leverage effect, then set up a monthly dashboard of margin and generic substitution. The goal: that the buyer signs knowing their real margin and their repayment capacity, not just the headline price. Amounts and gains depend entirely on each officine and are quantified file by file.
2026 watch points#
- Generic discounts capped at 40% of PFHT since 1 January 2026: to be built into purchase and margin forecasts.
- Electronic invoicing: the receipt of electronic invoices becomes mandatory for all VAT-registered businesses on 1 September 2026; the obligation to issue them will apply to SMEs in September 2027. A pharmacy must connect to a compliant platform.
- Taxation of dividends: the flat tax at 31.4% in 2026, to be built into the salary-versus-dividends trade-off.
- ROSP and dispensing fees: remuneration components paid with a delay, to be provisioned so as not to distort the cash reading.
Pharmacy accountant in Paris and the Île-de-France region#
A Paris officine is not steered like a provincial one, and the gap has little to do with turnover. It comes down to three things. First the weight of property: commercial rent and lease rights are a heavy share of fixed costs and of the acquisition price, which shifts the break-even point. Then the customer mix: a footfall pharmacy on a busy street or in an office district does not generate the same margin structure as a neighbourhood pharmacy living on prescriptions and repeat dispensing. Finally scarcity: because the pharmacy network is capped by licensing rules, an acquisition opportunity in Paris is decided fast, often within weeks, which means having your financing and your structure ready before you find the officine.
Hayot Expertise is based at 58 rue de Monceau, Paris 8th, with a second office in Noisy-le-Sec, and works on fully digital files: exchanges happen by video call and through the platform, while physical proximity mainly serves decision meetings and acquisition reviews. See our chartered accountancy practice in Paris 8th.
Let's talk about your officine#
Every pharmacy has its own margin, mix and project. Whether you are preparing a first setup, a partnership, a move to a SELARL or a transfer, we frame your file from your real figures rather than from a sector average. Contact Hayot Expertise for an initial discussion about your situation: firm quote within 24 to 48 working hours.
Updated 5 August 2026. Informative content reviewed by a chartered accountant registered with the Ordre des experts-comptables d'Île-de-France.
Key indicators to track in a pharmacy
Overall gross margin rate
Formula
(Gross margin / turnover excl. VAT) × 100
Target
Track by product family, stable or improving
Margin by family (reimbursable, OTC, parapharmacy)
Formula
Family margin / family turnover
Target
Limit erosion on reimbursable items under the MDL
Generic substitution rate (ROSG)
Formula
Generic boxes dispensed / substitutable boxes
Target
Aligned with the ROSP objective
Stock rotation
Formula
Purchases excl. VAT / average stock excl. VAT
Target
Speed up to free cash flow
Unsettled third-party payment and rejections
Formula
Unsettled third-party receivables / third-party turnover
Target
Minimise CPAM and insurer rejections
Sector Ecosystem
The French pharmacy market (~20,000 dispensing pharmacies) faces drug shortages and rising operating costs, pushing professionals towards advanced financial optimisation and consolidation through groupings (SPFPL, SEL, multi-pharmacy holdings).
29-32%
Average gross margin
x 5.5
Average valuation (EBE)
~15%
OTC share of revenue
50% of margin
Dispensing fees
Neighbourhood pharmacyShopping-centre pharmacyPharmacy groupingsPara-pharmaciesGenerics specialists
Practical framework
Practical guide: succeeding in your first pharmacy acquisition
01
1. Audit the historical margin trend
During financial due diligence, do not just look at turnover. Analyse the margin evolution over the last 3 financial years: a sudden drop may reveal lost influence over local prescribers (nearby doctors retiring) or a degraded commercial policy.
02
2. Set up a SPFPL holding
Never buy in your own name. Creating a holding (SPFPL — Société de Participations Financières de Profession Libérale) lets you repay the acquisition loan with dividends from the pharmacy (parent-subsidiary regime upstream), without personal taxation hits, and with deductible loan interest.
03
3. Negotiate WCR with your wholesalers
Your chartered accountant must model your working-capital need precisely. Build into your business plan the payment terms negotiated with the répartiteur (wholesaler) and with French national health insurance, so you do not suffocate during the first six months of operation.
Your guarantees
National coverage, Parisian expertise
Wherever you are in France, we deploy a 100% digital interface to deliver fast, highly-structured accounting and financial steering.
Regulated firm
Samuel Hayot is a French chartered accountant and statutory auditor registered with the Paris professional bodies.
National reach
The firm is based in Paris 8 and operates with a delivery model designed for businesses located across France.
Modern stack
Pennylane, Dext, Silae and an automation-first setup built for visibility and speed.
Direct contact
Visible phone number, simple contact path, fast engagement letter and tighter qualification of the mandate.
Useful resources
Need a quick read on your situation?
30 complimentary minutes with Samuel Hayot to challenge your reporting and surface your priority levers.
Perspectives
Related articles
Why Choose a Specialist Accountant Instead of a Generalist?
Holding company, LMNP, startup, outsourced CFO: discover why a specialist accountant delivers far more than a generalist or an online accounting software.
Read article
French pharmacy: regulated margins, dispensing fees and inventory accounting
Regulated margin scale, 2026 dispensing fees, VAT at 2.1%, 10% and 20%, third-party payer receivables and inventory: the accounting mechanics of a French community pharmacy.
Read article
Pappers.fr: when is it really useful?
Legal data, accounts, directors and fast checks: what Pappers.fr is really useful for in 2026.
Read article
Valuing a French pharmacy: inventory, margin and adjusted EBITDA before acquisition
A practical guide to valuing a French pharmacy before acquisition: revenue mix, gross margin, adjusted EBITDA, inventory and debt capacity.
Read article
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Why choose an accountant who specialises in pharmacy?
Because an officine combines rules that a generalist firm rarely masters: multi-rate VAT at the till, the smoothed decreasing margin, dispensing fees, ROSP, third-party payment, the CAVP and SELARL/SPFPL structures. A pharmacy accountant knows how to read these mechanisms, secure the allocation of turnover, and turn till data into management decisions.
How much does an accountant cost for a pharmacy?
Budget from €450 excluding VAT per month for a French officine: bookkeeping, multi-rate VAT allocation, third-party-payment reconciliation, account review, annual accounts and tax return. Payroll for technicians and assistant pharmacists, and one-off engagements (acquisition audit, valuation, setting up a SELARL or an SPFPL), are quoted separately. The budget mainly depends on the volume of flows, the headcount to pay and the one-off engagements of the year. Firm quote within 24 to 48 working hours.
What is a pharmacy's balance sheet?
It is a retailer's balance sheet with four items that weigh more than elsewhere: stock, the largest current asset; goodwill and lease rights, which hold most of the value and drive the capital gain on sale; the acquisition loan on the liabilities side; and third-party-payment receivables, already earned but not yet collected. Reading it means checking that what is tied up in stock and goodwill still leaves enough cash to service the debt and pay the owner.
Which accounting accounts does a pharmacy use?
There is no statutory chart of accounts specific to pharmacies: a French officine applies the general chart of accounts (PCG). What matters is breaking the accounts down to stay readable: purchases in 607 by family, discounts obtained in 609 to ring-fence generic discounts, sales in 707 by VAT rate, output VAT in 44571 by rate, trade receivables in 411 split between counter sales, mandatory share and complementary share, stock in 37 and 6031, goodwill in 207 and the acquisition loan in 164.
Are dispensing fees subject to VAT?
Yes, at 2.1%, like the reimbursable medicines they attach to. This is a classic parameterisation error: treating them at the standard rate distorts both the VAT return and the reading of the margin. These fees are paid by the health insurance fund with a delay and should be tracked in an account separate from commercial margin.
How do you choose an accountant for a pharmacy in Paris?
Look for three verifiable things: command of rate-by-rate allocation from the pharmacy software's Z-reports, month-by-month tracking of margin by family rather than a simple annual set of accounts, and the ability to structure an acquisition (SELARL, SPFPL, cash plan including the loan and CAVP calls). In Paris, the weight of lease rights and the scarcity of opportunities also mean being ready before you find the officine. Hayot Expertise is based at 58 rue de Monceau, Paris 8th.
Should I convert my sole-name pharmacy into a SELARL?
Often, yes, when the result is high. A SELARL (or SELAS) puts the result under corporate income tax, at the reduced rate of 15% up to €42,500 of profit then 25%. You are then personally taxed only on the salary actually drawn, which frees cash for the debt. The decision is made after a costed study.
What is an SPFPL used for in pharmacy?
The SPFPL is the liberal-profession holding company. It serves the leverage effect on buying the officine, the gradual entry of a partner, and the preparation of the transfer. Dividends flowing up from the SELARL to the SPFPL benefit, under conditions, from the parent-subsidiary regime (near-exemption, apart from a share of costs and expenses).
How is the value of a pharmacy calculated for a sale?
Historically expressed as a percentage of turnover including tax (TTC), pharmacy valuation increasingly relies on a multiple of restated EBE (broadly EBITDA), which better reflects real profitability and debt-servicing capacity. Each officine is valued case by case, from its accounts and its lease.
How many VAT rates does a pharmacy handle?
Several, at the same time: 2.1% on reimbursable medicines, 10% on non-reimbursable medicines, 5.5% on medical devices listed on the LPP, and 20% on parapharmacy. This allocation is settled product by product at the till and must be correctly parameterised in the pharmacy management software.
What is the smoothed decreasing margin (MDL)?
It is the way the margin is calculated on reimbursable medicines. The margin decreases as the price of the box rises, which sharply reduces profitability on the most expensive medicines. The MDL explains why rising turnover driven by costly products may not improve the result.
What are dispensing fees?
They are amounts paid by the health insurance fund (Assurance maladie) for the act of dispensing, separate from the commercial margin on the medicine. They are a full component of the officine's remuneration. Like the ROSP, they are paid with a delay and must be tracked and provisioned to read cash flow correctly.
What is the CAVP and why provision for it?
The CAVP is the pharmacists' pension fund: it covers the owner's basic and supplementary retirement. Its contribution calls are substantial. They must be provisioned in the cash plan, especially in the first year of setting up, to avoid a cash squeeze when they fall due.
Does the 40% cap on generic discounts change my cash flow?
Yes, potentially. Since 1 January 2026, discounts on generic medicines are capped at 40% of the manufacturer's price excluding tax (PFHT). If your purchase forecasts assumed higher discounts, your margin and cash are overstated: we realign the purchase and margin plan on this cap.
Is my pharmacy affected by electronic invoicing in 2026?
Yes. The receipt of electronic invoices becomes mandatory for all VAT-registered businesses on 1 September 2026, which includes pharmacies. The obligation to issue electronic invoices will apply to SMEs in September 2027. You must choose and connect a compliant platform ahead of the deadline.
Can an assistant become a partner gradually?
Yes. SEL structures and the SPFPL allow qualified non-owner pharmacists to enter the capital through successive minority buy-ins. It is a useful lever to prepare a transfer or retain an assistant in a tight recruitment market, provided the capital-ownership rules specific to pharmacy are respected.
Salary or dividends: how to decide in a SELARL?
The trade-off depends on your social status (majority manager of a SELARL contributing to the CAVP, or president of a SELAS treated as an employee), your net income and retirement goals, and the loan repayment. Dividends bear the flat tax at 31.4% in 2026. The right mix is determined by simulation, case by case.
Google Client Reviews
4.8What our clients say
Verified Google reviews of Hayot Expertise
Our clients share their experience with our firm.
23 Google reviews
Written by Samuel Hayot
Chartered Accountant, registered with the Institute of Chartered Accountants. Certified Pennylane trainer.
Regulated French firmUpdated 10 July 20265 sources cited
Regulated French accounting and audit firm based in Paris 8, built to support companies across France with a digital and decision-oriented approach.
Sources
Official and operational sources cited for this page.
- French health insurance: pharmacist remuneration, fees and ROSP (ameli.fr)
- French health insurance: amounts of pharmacists' fees and services (ameli.fr)
- Decree of 12 November 2018 on prices and margins of reimbursable medicines (smoothed decreasing margin)
- French tax guidance BOI-TVA-LIQ-30-10-50: 5.5% rate for assistive devices and equipment for disabled people
- French tax guidance BOI-BIC-CHAMP-60-30: pharmacy operating profits are taxed as BIC